Marcus Bagley is the latest Sixers rookie to flash potential as season winds down

Marcus Bagley confided in Jared Butler from the bench Friday. He had never shot this poorly in his basketball career.

Bagley had made only one of his first 21 three-point attempts as a 76er on his second 10-day contract. Butler encouraged his rookie teammate not to think about that unfortunate fact.

“So give me credit for all the shots he made,” Butler said with a chuckle after the game.

Bagley went 4-of-8 from long range in the Sixers’ 124-110 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at the Wells Fargo Center, spearheading a night on which he finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. It easily was the best performance of the 23-year-old forward’s nine-game NBA career and the type of outing that counters the cynics who insist that these down-the-stretch games are meaningless for anything other than draft lottery positioning.

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Bagley hopes this experience demonstrates that he deserves a legitimate NBA shot with the Sixers or another team — while also fulfilling a lifelong dream to play on the sport’s biggest stage.

“They’ve been telling me, ‘You’re playing well. Once the shot falls, it’s going to complete everything and the game’s going to come together,’ ” Bagley said postgame. “And I think that’s what happened tonight.

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity and the confidence that they have in me to keep shooting.”

It was the latest example of how the increased minutes for these makeshift Sixers (24-57) have organically yielded career performances ahead of Sunday’s season finale against the Chicago Bulls.

Point guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. scored 30 points during Wednesday’s victory at his hometown Washington Wizards, the third time he has set a new career mark in points since March 12 despite spotty playing time because of a quirk in his two-way contract. Rookie big man Adem Bona totaled a career-high 28 points on 13-of-15 from the field — while taking on the Giannis Antetokounmpo defensive assignment — on April 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks. Colin Castleton, another big man on a 10-day contract, finished with 16 points and eight rebounds against the Hawks — before agreeing to return to the Toronto Raptors on a standard contract.

Bagley’s effort Friday was particularly well-timed, after coach Nick Nurse said during his pregame news conference that the Sixers would “probably all be sitting up and taking a little more notice [of him], if more of those threes were going in.”

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Bagley’s first bucket was a tip-dunk with about five minutes to play in the first quarter, but that hot streak from beyond the arc finally arrived in the next frame. He buried all four of his attempts in less than six minutes of game action and was particularly dangerous from the corners.

Though Bagley could not carry that over to the second half, he got free on two cuts to the basket for a layup and an emphatic two-handed dunk. He elevated to block a Georges Niang shot. And he snuck behind the defense to secure a long pass and convert the transition finish in the fourth quarter’s waning minutes.

That scoring outburst complemented the other qualities Bagley had flashed during this short stint with the Sixers.

He had started the past three games, which Nurse acknowledged was largely because the team was down so many big men and wanted to keep things simple for this bevy of newcomers. Yet Bagley impressed with his athleticism and natural instincts to provide solid off-ball defense. He played unselfishly, and he was a relentless rebounder.

“Before, I’d be going for offensive boards by myself,” Bona said. “But now, I’ll be jumping, and I’ll be seeing Marcus jumping up with me, too. I really love the way he’s been playing.”

It was a positive step for Bagley, who is the younger brother of 2018 second overall draft pick Marvin Bagley III and the grandson of former NBA and ABA All-Star “Jumpin’” Joe Caldwell. Marcus Bagley went undrafted in 2023, following three injury-plagued seasons at Arizona State. He credits his two seasons with the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats with helping him learn how to be a professional on and off the court and noted that those coaches are now up in Philly assisting the Sixers and are “supporting me, full-fledged.”

Bagley signed his first 10-day contract on March 24. Once that ran out, he was told to stay nearby, but a second deal was not guaranteed. So he went back to Wilmington to use the Blue Coats’ facility as the Sixers looked at “one or two other guys,” Nurse acknowledged. Yet the coach believed Bagley had “earned” another 10 days because of his high-effort style.

“He just played really hard, all his minutes,” Nurse said on April 5.

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Bagley appreciates that this NBA stretch has taught him about the physicality required to sustain through an 82-game regular season and hypothetical playoff run, which will inform how he attacks his offseason training. He will welcome “whatever feedback I can get from the coaches” as the Sixers’ season winds down. He will continue to work on that outside shot.

But he will always have that April night when he got hot from long range and finished with career-highs in an NBA game.

“I don’t think I’ve proven anything,” Bagley said. “I think I’ve still got a long way to go. But this definitely felt good tonight to get the ball rolling.”